


Fear and Frusration

by St0rmy



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, F/M, It's Torment Link hours, Memory 17 exploration, Not Really Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 06:28:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24346525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/St0rmy/pseuds/St0rmy
Summary: If he was fated to die this way, perhaps dying protecting her would give the Hero’s soul some modicum of peace.
Relationships: Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 86





	Fear and Frusration

**Author's Note:**

> Just trying to get used to writing Link and Zelda while planning another much larger, much happier work. My one-shots tend to be angsty, and I enjoyed exploring the physical and emotional turmoil that must have been going on during Memory 17.

The sting of smoke in the back of Link’s throat rivaled the tightening in his chest with each haggard breath he took. He was doubled forward at the waist, contorted awkwardly in an effort to make it easier to breathe. His eyes scanned the horizon behind blood-caked bangs, hyper-aware of the arachnid swarm surrounding them, searching for them. 

“You’re hurt!” He felt two nervous doves on his shoulders - her hands, gripping him gently as she stood behind him, pleading with him. He heard wetness in her voice. He couldn’t bring himself to look at her. It took all of his strength to remain upright. 

To turn and face her, to see her tear-soaked face, would break him. 

A wave of guilt breached over him, bringing him to one knee. Normally, he let Zelda take the lead in decision-making, staying five paces behind, heeled like an obedient dog. Hers was the virtue of wisdom, after all. His was  _ supposed  _ to be courage. But when the Guardians at Hyrule Castle began turning traitorous shades of magenta, fixing their malevolent gaze upon the Princess and the Hero, he balked. His blood turned to ice in his veins, alarm bells blaring in his ears as he’d grabbed Zelda by the hand and hauled her backward. He had taken the lead for the first time in their relationship, sprinting away toward Hyrule field, practically dragging the princess behind him as he fled in terror.

Surrounded by hundreds of the ancient behemoths, he feared he couldn’t protect her.

“Link, save yourself! Go!!” It took all of his effort to remain upright, knowing that if he fell to the grass, he couldn’t pull himself back up. Long past feeling cold and soaked through in the rain, his extremities now felt numb and far away. The only sensation keeping him anchored to his body was his hunger for air. 

Now, just shy of the safe bastion at Fort Hateno, their fate had caught up to them. The Guardians were fast and single-minded, and the destructive power of their piercing beams was devastating. He had managed to destroy the few that caught up to them first, but during the firefight his shield had shattered on his arm, leaving torn cloth and charred skin in its wake. He was sent tumbling several hundred feet, hitting tree branches and rocks along the way as flames chased him along his path. Yes, he’d suffered wounds during training or fighting with lesser monsters, but nothing compared to this terrifying force. Link was in over his head.

An icy feeling settled in his heart. Link was scared. 

But not for himself. 

He was glad to feel Zelda’s hands on his shoulders, for that was how he knew she was still safe. Even if he’d failed as the Hero, even if he couldn’t bring himself to look at her, he still had a duty to fulfill as her Knight. He could hardly hear her pleading over the ringing in his ears. He was working so hard to breathe but his lungs just wouldn’t fill. His body starved for air. Yet if he couldn’t protect the Princess, he would truly amount to nothing.

The earth shivered beneath his knees as another Guardian approached, malevolent blue eye searching them out, then locking on and glowing red. He struggled to his feet, the weight of the Master Sword nearly causing him to tumble backward as Zelda begged him to run. His forehead burned where the tracking beam locked onto him. His vision clouded with tears of frustration.

If he was fated to die this way, perhaps dying protecting her would give the Hero’s soul some modicum of peace. 

As she moved to stand between him and his reaper, Link’s heart stuttered. Before he could react, she lifted her hand. The golden glow that ballooned to encompass them and a dozen of the nearest Guardians warmed him to the core. It was a ray of sunlight warming his face on a lazy morning; it was fresh baked bread cooling on the kitchen table; it was the heat in his cheeks as she turned to him on her mount, praising his equestrian skills. It was safety and vulnerability. As the light died, he watched Malice bleed forth from the Guardian and evaporate as the behemoth crumpled at Zelda's feet.

He watched Zelda’s shoulders uncoil, watched her staring down at her own hand, dumbstruck. He saw the realization dawning on her: that her power wasn’t born of prayer, or pilgrimage, or agonizing self-sacrifice. That she _wasn’t_ a failure. 

Had Link realized it himself, perhaps he wouldn’t have fled Hyrule Castle. The one person Zelda had opened up to and trusted with her most vulnerable self. 

If he’d only had faith in her. 

His realization was the final blow. Pain and guilt and suffocation and exhaustion claimed him as he gave in to his own self-defeating thoughts _._ The last thing he saw as he crumpled to the ground was her rushing to his side. His head swam as she lifted him from the earth, cradling him to her breast. He forced his eyes open, forced himself to look into hers, despite how much it hurt him. "Zelda, I..."

_I don't deserve you._

_I'm sorry._


End file.
